Was Bowe's performance in Holyfield I the best hw display since Ali & Frazier's day?

Can't be arsed reading this thread, although I imagine there's some good debate but personally I was very impressed with Bowe that evening. Very much a 'man on a mission' type performance, one that encapsulated what it means to be heavyweight champion of the world. Bowe was willing to walk through anything thrown his way and wasn't going to leave the ring without the belt. He probably could have gone another 12 rounds that night.

 

Not even worth retorting those two other haters. If Bowe was such a garbage fighter, he wouldnt have won a silver medal in the olympics, caught the attention of the legendary Eddie Futch, and became undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but I guess all the stars and planets aligned perfectly for him to coast through perfect stylistic matchups, great luck, and catch every good fighter on their worst night to get to the pinnacle of beating the best Holyfield for the championship?
Did Lewis beat a better fighter to become champion?
Did Tyson
Did Holyfield

 

Oh I dont know?? Won the undiisputed championship, defended twice, lost a razor close decision to Holyfield in the rematch, onesidely beat the undefeated #1 WBC contender, won the WBO title, absoultely destroyed his undefeated amatuer nemesis, beat Holyfield in a trilogy. Thats pretty impressive in my book... Maybe you should watch some of his fights sometime, he was a pretty impressive fighter and was really the first and last big man that had so much dimension to his game.

 

Cooper is limited, but at the same time, a huge puncher and again, Holyfield was the smaller men in all of these battles. He got caught with a great shot, came close to being stopped, but came back and came back strong.

As for struggling with old Holmes..... he won 9 or 10 rounds out of 12, hardly what i call struggling. The same Holmes who shut out Ray Mercer.

By your logic, Ali wasn't a master boxer because he was nearly decapitated by Cooper (what's in a name) and struggled with Jones, Norton, etc.

Holmes struggled with Witherspoon and Williamsn, plus, he was close to being layed out by Snipes (not known for his punch)... does that disqualify him from being a master boxer?

 

That's the sign of a fanboy. Taking every criticism as a slander.

Thing is, I hold Bowe in quite high regard. He had size, durability, power, heart, stamina and an impressive offensive arsenal. But he wasn't skilled defensively. I see him being a formidable opponent for anyone without great power. But big, skilled guys with huge power - that's another kettle of fish. For my money, a prime Tyson is his worst stylistical match-up. Wouldn't be pretty.

 

Your total hate for Bowe completely clouds any boxing sense that you might have. Thats ok, I dont need to try and convince you anymore. You could pretty much nitpick Lewis too. Whats worse Bowes compeititon around his first title run or Lennox Lewis who won the title against an ancient Tucker by boring decision, almost got knocked out by Bruno, beat a doorman Phil Jackson, and then got KO'd by Oliver Mcall???

 

Should he have been caught with those shots, though? He also had an idiotic gameplan and tactical smartness is part of being a "master boxer" as I see it.

I didn't have him winning by such a margin, personally. Anyhow he won clearly, but did so by outworking Holmes, not outboxing him. Holmes was the one who showed the most cunning and skill in my book, he just had no chance to keep Holyfield's pace.

Sure, Ali struggled at times, but he did put on some famous boxing clinics. Against guys like Liston, Patterson, Terrell, Quarry and Ellis for example. His win against Foreman could also be placed in that bracket. The only time I can think of when Holyfield looked that good against top opposition was against Douglas, who really only was there to collect the paycheck.

Edit: Holyfield looked great against Tyson, of course. But as I said in a previous post, it was not like he schooled him from start to finish. He held his ground very well for the first five rounds and then took over when Tyson started to gas.

Of course, it could also be said that Holmes didn't put on that many boxing clinics against skilled opposition. But I think he actually made Holyfield seem raw at times when they met.

It is a valid point that Holyfield very often gave up a big advantage in size. But bigger guys can be easier to outbox sometimes. He really should have run rings around Cooper, that's for sure. He shouldn't have been there to be hit as he was.

 

Fanboy? I dont think so, Im not a worshipper of Bowe, but I do think he had great potential, combined with his willingness to make an exciting fight by going for the KO. Thats what I like in a fighter. Ultimately he came up very short of his potential, which I feel was from more lack of discipline than lack of defense or skills. Personally I think the best Bowe would have given prime Tyson a run for his money, because unlike so many bigger guys that fought Tyson, Bowe could actually fight well on the inside, something Tyson really never saw until Buster Douglas took it to him.

 

Well, you implied we made him out to be "a garbage fighter", and I don't think anyone here has come even close to saying that. That exagerration made you seem a bit touchy about all criticism against Bowe.

There seems to be a general consensus that Bowe's defense wasn't great, but otherwise I think he's a respected fighter on this forum. He certainly is by me. And that's just about what I have to say on this subject.

 

Even the greats have shortcomings. There is no perfect fighter, thats why for the most part, they all lose!!

 

Complete bias here and largely untrue (Bruno nearly ko'ing Lewis :blood). All that matters is Lewis would have smashed Bowe within 2 rounds and Big Daddy new it and ran for the hills :yep:yep